Forest guards held in Kerala for raping tourists

Published: Thursday, July 22, 2010, 13:39 [IST]

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Mavelikkara, Jul 22: Three forest guards in Kerala have been arrested for raping a tourist lady and her daughter inside a forest, clicking pictures and recording the abuse on their cell phones. They also published the footage on the video sharing online site YouTube, exposing the crime which happened six months ago.

Manikandan (24), Shahul Hameed (33) and Unnikrishnan (43) were held on Tuesday, Jul 20 night. Police recovered the original video clips from them.

Police informed that they have confessed the crime.

Binoy Viswom, Forest Minister informed the assembly that they have detained the three and produced them in court.

The forest guards committed the crime inside a forest in Thenmala in Kollam of south Kerala. The tourists coming from Tamil Nadu were stripped and forced to walk in the forest by the guards. They were later raped after the woman's husband was tied to a tree, informed the police.

Police suspects that the accused in a drunken stupor shared the video with somebody else later, who posted it on YouTube.

The victims came for a tour to Aryankavu, part of India's first planned eco-tourism destination in Thenmala which is 72 kms away from the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. Kerala police are trying to trace them to record their statements as they have not filed a complaint.